Analysis of key prep (Grade 1 Woodbine Mile): Breaking from post position number four, reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan was placed under stout early restraint by jockey John Velazquez, and they secured the textbook "garden spot" trip, defined as being positioned a clear and isolated third while rating behind a pair of duelers who are knocking heads through solid early fractions. The garden spot trip is famous for yielding a relatively high percentage of career-top speed figures, but Wise Dan proved he needed no such tactical advantage to beat this field.

As John Velazquez angled Wise Dan outward to the three path on the far turn, they ranged up to the duelers, who offered no resistance whatsoever. Wise Dan, under the strongest hold imaginable, pulled away from the pack through the stretch and won with condescending ease. The soundly beaten second-place finisher, Za Approval, received a five pound weight break and was defeated by three and a half lengths. He returned to win his next start, the Grade 3 Knickerbocker, by over a length while conceding between five and seven pounds of weight to the eventual second, third, and fourth-place finishers.

For Breeders’ Cup Past Performances – complete with best-in-class foreign running lines and European and North American speed figures on the same scale – get TimeformUS Breeders’ Cup PPs.

*Timeform Master Ratings are adjusted for age, so that equal ratings mean horses of equal merit. Another way of looking at it is to see the universal rating handicap as four handicaps side by side: one for two-year-olds, one for three-year -olds, one for four-year-olds and one for older horses.

Older Comments about Breeders' Cup Buzz Horse: #2 Wise Dan...

As it was promoted to me, Euro Trash, a primary advantage claimed is that the TimeFormUS #s were designed to be comparable to the International #s. But my Wise Dan question ^^ swings in the breeze. DOUG??? D:

Lest we forget my fellow Breeders Cup handicappers, Wise Dan is the 2nd highest rated horse on the planet right now. Not the 2nd highest rated horse in America, but in the whole world!! The only horse officially rated higher than Wise Dan right now is the unbeaten French filly, Treve, that won the G1 Prix De Diane(French Oaks), G1 Prix Vermeille, & G1 Prix De l'Arc De Triomphe this season.

You can completely throw out Wise Dan's last race at Keenland in the Shadwell Turf Mile. Clearly he wasn't happy with the race being switched to the main track that day. IMO, we're much more likely to see the same Wise Dan that shattered the track record in the G1 Woodbine Mile 2 starts back in the BC Mile than we are the Wise Dan that ran in the Shadwell "Synthetic" Mile. The only horse in this field that would be capable of springing the upset would be Olympic Glory if the heavens suddenly opened up with a downpour and made it a soft turf course. But with the chances of that happening slim to absolute none, Wise Dan romps home for his second win in the BC Mile!! 1st-Wise Dan 2nd-Obviously 3rd-Olympic Glory 4th-Za Approval.